Photos and story by Adam Chau, AsAmNews Staff Writer
The recent trial of Derek Chauvin and the police shooting death of Daunte Wright both mobilized and united the Asian American and Black communities in Minneapolis.
Below are pictures of Asian Americans in support and protest at the Brooklyn Center Police Department recently and in George Floyd Square.
The Minneapolis rally was put on by local groups The SEAD Project, Korean JangmiArts, Good Trouble for Justice, Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, and the Kokoro Project.
The rally was originally put together out of grief and anguish over the Atlanta murders, however after the murder of Daunte Wright, was shifted to focus on unity between the Black and Asian American community.
“Our event has a slight modification to it will be dedicated to Daunte Wright, the organizers wrote in advance of their protest. “This event is still a go as we (the AAPI community) make space for the Black community during these tense times with the Chauvin trial and the grief and mourning of Daunte Wright.
“This event was born during a conversation amongst the Asian and GFS team about the grief and shock the AAPI community was feeling after the murders of 6 Asian women in Acworth, Georgia. The community believed that unity was important as both groups are going through a traumatic healing period and wanted to shed light that our division from the ‘Blacks youth are committing these anti-Asian hate crimes’ argument was a product of White supremacy. We as ‘minorities’ are not the minority when we bind together. We hope this event can be a safe space for sharing grief and also creating joy, because after all, BIPOC joy is the biggest protest of them all.”
The first pictures are from Saturday at the Brooklyn Center Police Department, with the rest of the photos from the Black and Yellow rally.
Perofmances and speakers at the rally included: SOUNDS OF BLACKNESS, TRIGG BAYO, L.I.I.K. CYDI SAVAGE + T.Y., FSFAPV JACL, CAAL SEAD Project, NAACP Thai Monks, Nekima Armstrong, Alicia Gibson, Steve Agape.
Photographer’s note: There are many different protests and rallys going on around the cities in MN everyday with many Asian American supporters and protesters not pictured here. This, like others, is just one historical record of Asian Americans in the civil rights movement.
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